Changes

One week in Olinalá and the reality changes.

On the home front, I found out last Sunday evening that in the coming months I will be on the search for a new home. In December I will have to vacate my lovely second floor apartment that has plenty of sunlight and an outdoor patio that I have enjoyed morning and evening reading and reflection. Barely just settling in to living here, the daughter of the owner of the apartment visited with the news that her uncle was returning from the States in December and would need the apartment until April. As is common in the state of Guerrero and much of Mexico, many people have relatives in the States who send remittances back to family to help with living expenses and the ultimate dream of building a house. Walking the streets, one can see houses in various stages of construction awaiting more money to finish the next part. The hope is that when the house is built, the relatives from the States will return home.

On the work front, there will be more transitions. The Dyrst family who has been here for three years has decided to return to the States in early November. Much of their work has focused on the construction of appropriate technology of dry latrines and cisterns. I have spent much of the week learning about the process and work as well as trying to soak up the wealth of information that they know about Olinalá.

With their departure, our team is much smaller – the Friesen-Pankratz family, living in Zacango, and Manuel Vazquez, a national worker from the state of Morelos, who stays in Olinalá for 10-15 days then returns home for a few days rest. As I have written in the past, much of the MCC work in the area is related to water issues. Part of the team has been realizing the goals of Plan 500, whose goals included the construction of 200 latrines, 200 cisterns and 100 family gardens. We are currently in a time of evaluation and reflection on the impact of this program in the communities. In the next month, we will conduct an evaluation to capture the stories of the community and to measure the effects and impact of the project on the entire community, those who received the technology as well as those who did not.

In Zacango, Bruce and Jaime have begun several education programs arising from the articulated need from the community. Jaime teaches adult literacy classes for women and English classes for children. Bruce is helping with the English classes as well as computer classes. In the summer, they taught science related classes through the planting of a community garden for the children since they were out of school. The education emphasis is part of a process to educate and build capacity around water and environment related issues. As Bruce has much experience in watershed management, we were part of the community meeting on Friday to present the process of watershed management to the community.

A watershed management plan is a process that is community driven and brings all the stakeholders to the table to develop and implement a plan. It is a process that requires both future visioning and participatory community involvement. We are working to make some contacts with one or two national organizations in the area that also working in communities to develop a watershed management plan.